Our History
The CCB Story
The Northern Berkshire Child Care Committee (NBCCC) was organized in 1969 by a group of concerned and committed women to address the need for day care in Northern Berkshire County. Its first and temporary home was located in a church on the Monument Square in North Adams; it took 10 years for the NBCCC to relocate to a new home in the Haskins Elementary School.
During these early years, its programming expanded to include a network of family child care providers for in-home care funded with a patch work of sources, including the Northern Berkshire United Way, a contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and donations from churches and private citizens.
The agency changed its name to Child Care of the Berkshires in 1982 to better reflect its expanding geographic growth to Pittsfield, Stockbridge and Great Barrington. New child care centers began to emerge – the Norman Rockwell Center on the campus of Berkshire Community College, the Main Street Center in Williamstown and the Redfield Infant Toddler Center in Pittsfield. In 1986 the agency purchased its first computer.
CCB has grown significantly in the last 30 years. It has organized its administrative structure into two main service components: child care and family support headed by two program managers. The family support services include parenting support for first-time adolescent parents, an early literacy home-visiting program, an active and unique family center, and a childhood lead poisoning prevention and support program.
In the child care division, some of the centers have been relocated to new sites; some have closed, and others have expanded their capacity. CCB has embraced NAEYC accreditation as a measure of high quality programming that includes a literacy-based curriculum, hands-on activities and a focus on STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. The agency is committed to high quality environments that enhance a child’s comfort and safety, promote independence, and learning and social-emotional skills.
CCB values parents as the child’s first teacher and the most influential person in a child’s development. Throughout all programming, there is an emphasis on active and respectful parent engagement and a focus on parents’ strengths rather than deficits.
Our passion and dedication remains as reflected in our mission statement:
The mission of Child Care of the Berkshires, Inc. is to strengthen families through high quality child care, education, support services and advocacy.